Russian President Vladimir Putin presented his vision for Russia’s development of the Arctic earlier this month. He predicted commercial use of a northern sea route connecting Europe and Asia via the Arctic Ocean would increase four-fold by 2025 and he promised Russia would be there to make the new shipping lane “safe and commercially feasible.”

But as the Arctic ice pack thins, the region could be used for more than shipping. Russia is reopening and modernizing a number of Soviet-era Arctic military bases and claiming vast tracts of the continental shelf as its own.

This week on Wake we’ll consider whether Russia’s Arctic ambitions make the region ripe for future conflict.

Helping us do that are this week's guests:

• Lassi Heininen, research Director, Institute for Atmospheric and Earth Research, University of Helsinki
• Suzanne Lalonde, professor of public international law, University of Montreal

If you enjoy this discussion, leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. To share feedback with us, send an email to [email protected].

Taped: April 18, 2019.

Hosted by Luke Vargas.